Cops: Ex-boyfriend torched Ayala's car

Daniel Tepfer

Updated 12:26 am, Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Pedro Rodriguez, 37, was charged Tuesday morning, Sept. 24, 2013 with two counts of reckless burning, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment after police said he set fire to a car belonging to State Rep. Christina Ayala, as well as a car belonging to AyalaâÄôs sister, following a dispute with Ayala.
Photo: Contributed Photo

BRIDGEPORT -- State Rep. Christina Ayala just has no luck with cars -- or boyfriends.

Just one month after the Democratic legislator got back her license after pleading no contest to a hit-and-run crash, police said her ex-boyfriend, whom she had previously been charged with assaulting, torched her car.

Pedro Rodriguez, 37, was charged Tuesday with two counts of reckless burning, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment after police said he set fire to Ayala's 2007 Nissan Sentra and a 1995 Toyota Camry belonging to Ayala's sister. The fires followed an argument with Ayala, police said.

Christina Ayala will take a day to unwind before deciding whether to comment on the situation, he said.

Police said the sisters had been at Tito Ayala's restaurant on Beechwood Avenue when they got into a dispute with Rodriguez early Tuesday morning. They left the restaurant and about a half-hour later Christina Ayala called the fire department because her car was engulfed in flames in front of her Brooks Street home. At the same time, Ayala's sister reported that her car, too, had been set afire in front of her home, on Livingston Place, police said. Both cars were destroyed, police said.

Based on the women's account of their earlier dispute with Rodriguez, police said they went to his Park Street home just as he was arriving. He was detained at the scene while police retrieved Baxter, a State Police arson dog, that sniffed out an accelerant on Rodriguez's jeans, police said.

During the arraignment hearing Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Earl Richards set Rodriguez's bond at $15,000 and ordered him to wear a GPS locating device if he is released.

He also ordered Rodriguez to have no further contact with Ayala.

In June, Ayala pleaded no contest to evading responsibility, failure to obey a traffic signal and failure to renew her vehicle's registration for the Aug. 15, 2012, hit-and-run crash that severely injured 26-year-old Krystal Velez, of Bridgeport.

Ayala was driving her Nissan Sentra, with a 13-year-old and a 7-year-old as passengers, when it collided with a 2002 Honda Accord at the intersection of North and Briarwood avenues.

When questioned by officers, Ayala said she attempted to check on the other driver after the crash, but left the scene because a man was yelling at her and she felt "scared."

Police said Ayala was eventually flagged down at Brooklawn Avenue and Laurel Place by a person who witnessed the accident and pursued her.

In March prosecutors dropped domestic violence charges against Ayala, 29, who had been arrested and charged with slapping her then-boyfriend, Rodriguez, at their Hillside Avenue home.